SECUNDERABAD: Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways visited South Central Railway on 17th August, 2017 and inspected Secunderabad Railway Station and took part in the ongoing Swachhta Pakhwada – Mission Cleanliness Program of Indian Railways. Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, SCR, Amit Varadan, Division Railway Manager, Secunderabad Division and other senior officials accompanied the Minister.

Rajen Gohain was briefed in detail on the working system of high standard Mechanized Cleaning equipments being put to use for the upkeep of station cleanliness at Secunderabad. The Minister inspected various Passenger Amenities such as Waiting Halls, Security Surveillance System, Toilet facilities etc. The General Manager, SCR detailed Rajen Gohain on the activities being taken up by the Zone during “Swachh Rail – Swachh Bharat” Swachhta Pakhwada fortnight campaign which commenced on 16th August, 2017.

The Minister of State for Railways interacted with the Media, Representatives of Passenger Association and SCR Employees as a part of “Swachh Samvad Day” of the ongoing Swachhta Pakhwada and briefed them on Swachh Bharat Mission taken up by Railways to fulfill the vision of Prime Minister of India. He also focused on taking up “Sankalp Se Siddhi” to strive for building a new India by 2022. He stated that the Dedicated Freight Corridor, High Speed rail project, running of Bullet Train in India are issues of aspiration to the people of the country and Indian Railways will fulfill them. He also stated that projects on Indian Railways such as laying of New Railway Line, Doubling, Tripling, Electrification are progressing fast and high priority is being accorded to complete the projects in stipulated target time.

Later, Rajen Gohain inaugurated a revived Heritage Well at the 1105 Railway Engineers’ Regiment (Territorial Army), located at Moula-ali, Hyderabad through Remote Video Link from SCR Headquarters, Rail Nilayam, Secunderabad where he also held a review meeting with Senior Railway Officials of the Zone. Interacting with the Railway Officials, Rajen Gohain stressed that South Central Railway transports a host of different freight commodities unlike several other Zones and hence shall make every effort to better its freight business. He advised the Officials to utilize the schemes from the Railway Ministry for encouraging freight traffic. Rajen Gohain keenly analyzed the status of ongoing Railway projects being taken up Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) & Construction Organization on SCR and sought to know the plans for early completion of the same. The Minister also reviewed various important subjects as passenger traffic, employee welfare measures etc.

Earlier, Vinod Kumar Yadav, General Manager, SCR welcomed the Minister of State for Railways and made a power point presentation on the performance and achievements of the Zone, various initiatives taken up by SCR for Water & Energy Conservation and Green Initiatives. The General Manager detailed the measures taken up by SCR concerning key areas of Safety, Security, Punctuality as well as status of rail projects on the Zone. John Thomas, Additional General Manager, SCR; Principal Heads of Departments; Divisional Railway Managers of Secunderabad and Hyderabad Division and the Chief Project Manager, RVNL were also present.

BJP State President urges MOSR to fast track Rail projects in the State

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit president K Laxman on Thursday urged the Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain to speed up the ongoing works of railway projects in Telangana.

The BJP president submitted a memorandum to the Railway Minister Rajen Gohain in this regard on Thursday. He said there were some projects which need to be cleared and require proper attention for development and faster growth of Telangana.

Laxman said some of the projects in the State were going on at a snail’s pace including Maulali – Sanathnagar, Secunderabad – Medchal, Secunderabad – Ghatkesar, Falaknuma – Umdanagar (Shamshabad), Ghatkesar – Raigiri (Yadadri).

Regarding the proposed Circular Railway Line along the existing Outer Ring Road (ORR), Laxman said the land for circular railway line was acquired but, a new line would be useful for people of Hyderabad to ease out the traffic congestion and reach different destinations in and around Hyderabad city, he added.

He said two new terminals have been proposed to ease out traffic congestion at Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Kacheguda railway stations by establishing passenger terminals at Cherlapally / Moula Ali and Lingampally.
He said the electrification of Secunderabad – Mudkhed, Kache guda- Guntakal and Bibinagar – Nadikudi railway lines was also pending.

He also brought to the notice of the Minister that workshop at Kazipet with an estimated cost of Rs 270 crore was also pending. He said the State government had to provide 160 acres of land for this purpose. This was proposed in 2016-17 Railway budget. The BJP leader wanted Uday Trains from Secunderabad/Hyderabad as there is not even a single Uday train from Secunderabad.

He also wanted the Minister to take steps for starting the works pertaining to upgradation of Secunderabad Railway Station into international standards. The BJP leader wanted the Minister to take up the new lines proposed including Macharla-Nalgonda (81.6 km), Bhadrachalam Road- Sattupally (56.25 km), Bhadrachalam Road-Kovvur (151 km), Akkannapet -Medak (17.20 km), Kondapally-Kothagudem (125 km), Manuguru -Ramagundam (200 km).

He asked the Minister to take personal attention for completing these projects.

Talking to reporters later, Rajen Gohain said the Centre allocated Rs 1,789 crore for the railway projects this year to Telangana, which was more than double compared to 2016-17, which was projects worth Rs 601 crore. He said that as of now Rs 17,475 crore worth projects were going on in the State.